One final siren for Marsden Jones

RESPECT: Family, friends and firefighters show their respect for Marsden Jones after Saturday's funeral at the Kaitaia fire station.

Kaitaia has heard a lot of its fire siren this year, but on Saturday afternoon it sounded as a farewell rather than a call to the volunteers.

The siren was activated as a fire appliance bearing the casket of Marsden (Moose) Jones slowly approached the fire station then paused as family, friends and firefighters paid their silent respect.

Much was made at the funeral of Marsden's contribution to the volunteer firefighting ranks - he joined the Kaitaia brigade in 1960, rising to the rank of deputy CFO, completing his 47-year career in an operational support role at Mangonui (having accrued 4146 musters), but to daughter Wendy he had been a loved and loving father and family man.

Her father had been born in Auckland (on September 26, 1931), his mother Nina being one of a family of nine raised at Victoria Valley.

He had been an "adventurous rascal", who once charged children a penny (one cent) to crawl under the local hospital to eavesdrop under the delivery room. On another occasion he lit a fire under the building, perhaps paving the way for his long service as a fireman.

He was a talented school athlete, a yachtie and a carpenter, who built the house in North Road Kaitaia where he and his family would live for many years (after spending 18 months in the garage while the home was under construction).

He and Jean married in 1953 and moved north, to Oruru, Victoria Valley, Waipapakauri and finally Kaitaia.

He operated a milk run for 14 years until 1971 (and was the RD2 man) while Jean ran the town's shoe shop for 17 years. Marsden joined her there, but according to Wendy spent an inordinate amount of time sweeping the footpath (in the convivial company of kindred spirits Harry Presswood, Cal Beehre and Dudley Rider).

"Fitting shoes to women's feet wasn't really his thing," Wendy added, "but he loved the shed out the back, where he mended people's shoes. I suppose he became the town's cobbler."

Golf, fishing, collecting mussels and tuatua and a man's shed that was home to tools "and lots and lots and lots of stuff" also kept him busy. He was known to take a trailer load of rubbish to the tip and return with a trailer and a half, but everything was turned into something useful.

In 1993 Marsden and Jean moved to Cooper's Beach, then in 2007 to Pukenui.

He was admitted to Kaitaia Hospital two weeks before he was farewelled, his family never expecting that he would not come home.

"But we were blessed to have been with him. He was certainly surrounded with love," Wendy said.

And his beloved Jim Reeves, whose music ruled in her father's car for as long as she could remember, was singing I Love You Because as he passed away.